This past Saturday my lovely mother and I spent the morning together around town soaking in all the local love.  First, we headed to the launch of BodyFlow 73 at our YMCA.  BodyFlow is a Les Mills group exercise class that combines Yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates for a workout that's both relaxing and challenging (something I didn't know was possible until BodyFlow).  I feel like a spokeswoman for this class as I've raved about it time after time to friends and family.  It's totally worth a try if you enjoy group exercise or want to try out something new!

This release was full of great songs and was one of my personal favorites in the time I've been taking this class (probably a little more than a year now).

Following our workout we decided to visit some of the venders at a small local farmers market in the area.  It's only a few miles from the gym, so it was a very convenient stop.  I was looking for some fruit, and I found these beautiful berries.  There were lots of veggies to choose from as well, but the only thing I found to put in a cobbler were these. 

So it was off to another farmers market (not pictured) we went!  At the second market, we got a whopping 4.5 pounds of fresh peaches.  I was content.

Here they are in all their golden peachy glory.  Raw.  Bare.  I do love a good peach.

A few days later I cut these bad boys up and prepped them to be ready to be tossed with spices and sugars galore!  It was time to get the cobbler started.

I had a special guest come visit me to be my personal assistant/recipe scribe/ben & jerry's supplier (thank you preston if you read this!).  Here he is being a handsome little goof helping to show off my new package of coconut sugar.  Little tip for making ultra rich desserts: use coconut sugar for a caramel flavor that is even stronger than brown sugar.  I'm a sucker for new ingredients and think just about any health food is exciting, but you have to give this one a try.

LOOK AT THAT.  This is probably one of the best food pics I've ever taken.  The lighting and editing finally does these gorgeous fruits some justice.

 I know what you're thinking.  Sydney... this isn't the most flattering picture.  And that smile isn't exactly the most convincing.  Well you'd be right.  These are both very true statements and the reason I included this picture isn't either of them.  This picture is actually to aid in telling the story of what happened right before this picture was taken.  

So at this point in the cobbler making/photo taking process, I was very ready to just shove this thing in the oven.  I'd spent too much time sprinkling cinnamon and coming up with a topping dough recipe to even care how the final product looked.  I just wanted a few minutes of rest.  However, Preston, as my wonderful assistant (no sarcasm there. this is in no way his fault. seriously.), decided that I needed a picture with my masterpiece.  So, he snatched the camera out of my coconut oil-greased hands and told me to, you know, kneel down near the cobbler and look like I was enjoying myself.  So me being the absent minded frenzied baker I am decided it would be a good idea to tilt the cobbler towards the camera (i'm talking more than 45 degrees) as one might do with a birthday cake so that the camera could pick up the cobbler's detail.  

Now I'm sure you can guess where this is going.  I smiled for the picture, but before it was snapped I noticed that, well, my cobbler was falling out of the dish.  I don't know why I was convinced that cobbler didn't follow the same rules of gravity as every other baked good, but there I was with a quarter of my cobbler plopped ever so gracefully onto the island top.  In a defeated mess, I begrudgingly picked up my cobbler and fixed my mess. I will have to give credits to Preston on this one, however.  If it wasn't for him making me get over my spilt cobbler, I may very well still be a sad mess on the floor crying out that "my life is over."  Yes, it was overdramatic. No, it probably won't be the last time I react that way.

After my invisible tears were wiped and my dignity strapped back on like a raggedy old apron, clinging for dear life, I took this kind of sad picture.

End of story.

*bows*

So here it is.  All in one piece and shining like the big glistening cobbler it always wanted to be when it grew up.

And here is it plated.  Yes, intentionally out of the glassware this time.

Hello everyone! I'm back again with the second installment of my 2016 beach adventures. As I mentioned in the first installment, I was fortunate enough to be able to return to the beach for a second trip with my lovely boyfriend and his equally lovely family for a stay at Oak Island, NC.  On this trip I accomplished a whopping TWO items on my bucket list (go me!).

 Sadly (or not sadly depending on how you look at it), you'll notice I was not able to get too many pics of this trip as we were rarely on our phones.  So today's post is gonna be a short and sweet one!

The first item I accomplished was going to a festival, something I originally didn't have any idea how I would complete.  But with serendipity on my side, I found a little Fourth of July festival to crash down in Southport, NC.  It was filled with venders, food, and people galore!

It was fair style food which was admittedly not too vegan friendly but still a blast!  Preston and I wandered endlessly around the booths, food stands, and even sat by the Cape Fear River to rest our feet.  I'd say it was definitely a success!

As you can tell here I got a bit antsy and ate two of the varieties before even getting to take a picture - oops! But, that should assure you that they are delish.  Definitely the best vegan donuts I have had.

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Now, getting donuts and attending festivals were only a very small part of the trip.  We did tons of other equally awesome things during our stay.  Here's a list:

- Attended a July 4th Festival

- Watched too many episodes of ANT Farm with little siblings

- Lounged around and acted silly

- Played lots of Apples to Apples

- Saw fireworks on the end of the island

- Watched the Euros 

- Pouted when Iceland was eliminated from the Euros

- Grieved with the families of the Dallas victims

- Boogie boarded in some rough waves

- Took floats in the ocean

- Broke the floats in the ocean

We had LOTS of fun in the sun as we went to the beach each day and spent lots of time in the company of the ocean.